sewing-machine 
tached to shaft A; t, take-up cam with set-screw ; j, take, 
up lever with roller and stud; It, presser-bar carrying 
a 
Fig. 2. Singer Sewing-: 
presser-foot ; I, needle-bar ; m, spool-pin ; n, shuttle-pit- 
man taking motion from crank o ; p, shuttle bell-crank ; 
q, shuttle-carrier and shuttle ; r, thread-guide ; s, tension- 
disk ; t, drawers. In flg. 3 a is 
the body of shuttle for the same 
machine; b, the tension spring ; 
c, the bobbin. In flgs. 4 and 5 
(Wheeler and Wilson machine) 
a is the frame; 6, shaft crank 
which rocks the hook-shaft e, re- 
ceiving its motion from the dou- 
ble crank on the upper shaft e' in 
the arm g through the shaft-con- 
nection c; d. band-wheel turned 
by a band (not shown) from a 
wheel on a treadle-shaft below the table ; /, feed-cam ; A, 
feed-bar ; i, bobbin-case ; j, rotating hook which is at- 
5535 
ity the looperj;; (, vertically reciprocating needle-bar; n, 
needle-bar nut which clamps the needle in the needle-bar, 
both parts being moved together by the rock lever p, 
pivoted by the lever-stud 2 and having its shorter end 
connected with the crank on shaft b by the connecting-rod 
z"', in, presser-foot attached to the vertically movable 
presser-bar q, which is raised by the lifter r; o, needle-bar 
screw ; s, take-up, through which and through the pull-off 
u (a hole in the side of the lever p) the thread passes from 
a spool on the spool-pin holder w when the machine is 
working ; r, spool-pin ; x, automatic tension, under the 
cap of which the thread is passed on its way from the 
spool to the pull-off ; y, tension-rod ; t, embroidery-spring, 
used only in embroidering, in which work the thread is 
also passed through its loop ; z, ball-joint connecting the 
rod z" with the lever p; z"', cap. See also cuts under 
presser-foot. 
2. In bookbinding, a machine used for sewing 
together the sections of a book Hand sewing- 
machine, (a) A form of sewing-machine having pivoted 
jaws working like scissors, one part containing the bobbin 
and looping-hook, and the other the needle. There are 
various forms, (b) A small sewing-machine operated by 
hand. Sewing-machine gage, a device connected with 
a sewing-machine for guiding the fabric to the needle in 
a direction parallel with the edge, hem, etc., at the will 
of the operator. Sewing-machine hook, in the mecha- 
nism of a sewing-machine, a device by which the needle- 
thread is caught and opened beneath the work, so as to 
form a loop, through which the next stitch is passed. 
Sewing-machine needle, a needle used in a sewing-ma- 
chine. These needles differ widely in size, form, etc., but 
agree in having the eye near the point. 
sewing-needle (so'lng-ne'dl), n. A needle used 
in ordinary sewing, as distinguished from a sail- 
needle, an embroidery-needle, and others. 
sewing-press (so'ing-pres), n. In bookbinding, 
a platform with upright rods at each end, con- 
e 
-ff 
sexagene 
protozoans, with, however, many exceptions here and there 
among hermaphrodites. The distinction of sex is proba- 
bly the most profound and most nearly universal single 
attribute of organized beings, and among the higher ani- 
mals at least it is accompanied or marked by some psycho- 
logical as well as physical characteristics. The essential 
attribute of the male sex is the generation of spermatozoa, 
that of the female the generation of ova, accomplished in 
the one case by a testis or a homologous organ, nnd in 
the other by an ovary or a homologous organ. The act 
of procreation or begetting in the male is the uniting of 
spermatozoa to an ovum ; the corresponding function in 
the female is the fecundation of an ovum by spermatozoa, 
resulting in conception or impregnation. The organs by 
which this result is accomplished are extremely varied in 
physical character ; and various organs which characterize 
either sex, besides those directly concerned in the repro- 
ductive act, are known as secondary sexual characters. 
See gender, generation, reproduction, and quotation from 
Buck under sexuality, 1. 
Under his forming hands a creature grew, 
Man-like, but different sex. Milton, V. L , viii. 471. 
2. Either one of the two kinds of beings, male 
and female, which are distinguished by sex; 
males or females, collectively considered and 
contrasted. 
Think you I am no stronger than my sex, 
Being so father'd and so husbanded ? 
J. C.,ii. 1.296. 

Fig. 4. Wheeler and Wilson Sewing-machine. 
tached to e and oscillates with it; k, bobbin-holder; I, 
presser ; m, presser-spi-ing ; n, needle-bar link ; o, needle- 
bar ; p, take-up lever ; q, take-up cam ; 
r, spool-holder; t, thread-leader; *, 
face-plate covering parts I to p inclu- 
sive (flg. 4) ; v, presser thumb-screw ; w, 
thread-check ; x, tension-nut by which 
tension is regulated ; y, tension-pulley 
around which the thread is wound, and 
which is caused to turn less or more 
easily by the nut x; z, thread-guide and 
-controller ; z", presser-foot. In flg. 6 
(same machine) a is the bobbin-case ; 
c, bobbin ; 6, thread wound on bobbin ; 
d, projection from bobbin case which 
keeps it from turning ; e, thread leading 
out ; and in flg. 7 a is the bobbin-holder, 
partly opened to show hook 6, and bob- 
bin-case c; d, feed-points ; e, presser- 
foot. In fig. 8 (Wilcox and Gibbs ma- 
chine) a is the frame, which in use is 
fastened to the stand and which sup- 
ports all the working parts except the treadle, main driv- 
ing-wheel and its crank-shaft (not shown in the cut) ; 6, 
Fig- 5- 
Fig. 6. 
shaft of small driving-wheel c, which is driven by the belt 
<J from the main driving-wheel ; e, stitch-regulator, which. 
r-X 
Fig. 8. Wilcox and Gibbs Sewing-machine. 
through the link t, regulates the reciprocating motion of the 
feed-bar h and attached feed-surface j, and hence also the 
length of the stitches, when it is turned into different posi- 
tions numbered on its perimeter, which show through a slot 
in the cloth-plate k ; /, rocker carrying at its upper extrem- 
Sewing-press. 
a, table with slot *, through which the cords c pass ; d, staples by 
which the lower ends of the cords are held from passing through the 
slot when stretched ; e, adjustable bar around which the upper ends 
of the cords are looped ; f, screw-threaded rods upon which the nuts g 
are turned, to adjust the bar e ; h, h', book-sections to be stitched to 
the cords ; (', grooves cut in the backs of the sections for reception of 
the cords ; j, needle and thread, illustrating method of stitching. 
nected by a top crosspiece, on which strings are 
fastened, and to which the different sections of 
an intended book are successively sewed. 
sewing-silk (so'ing-silk), . Silk thread made 
for tailors and dressmakers, and also for knit- 
ting, embroidery, or other work. The finer and 
closely twisted is that which generally bears this name, 
the others being called embroidery-sUks, floss-silk, etc. 
China sewing-silk, fine white sewing-silk used by glove- 
makers. Diet, of Needlework. 
sewing-table (s6'ing-ta"bl),w. 1. A table con- 
structed to hold all the implements for needle- 
work. 2. In bookbinding, a table for the sew- 
ing-press to stand upon, 
sewn (son). A past participle of sew 1 . 
sewster (so'ster), n. [< ME. seicstare, sowstare, 
< sew 1 -t- -ster. Cf. seamstcr and spinster."] A 
woman who sews ; a seamstress. [Obsolete or 
prov. Eng.] 
Sewstare, or sowstare (sowares). Sutrix. 
Prompt. Parv., p. 454. 
At every twisted thrid my rock let fly 
Unto the sewster, who did sit me nigh. 
B. Jonson, Sad Shepherd, ii. 1. 
sewtt, n. and v. An obsolete spelling of suit. 
SOX 1 (seks), n. [< ME. sexe, cexe, < OF. (and F.) 
sexe = Pr. sexe = Sp. Pg. sexo = It. sesso, < L. 
nexus, also secus, sex; perhaps prig, 'division,' 
i. e. 'distinction,' < secure, divide, cut: see 
secant. A less specific designation for 'sex' 
was L. genus = Gr. yevot;, sex, gender: see gen- 
der, genus .] 1. The character of being either 
male or female; the anatomical and physio- 
logical distinction between male and female, 
evidenced by the physical character of their 
generative organs, and the part taken by each 
in the function of reproduction ; gender, with 
reference to living organisms. Sex is properly 
predicable only of male or female, those organisms which 
are neither male nor female being sexless or neuter. But 
the two sexes are often combined in the same individual, 
then said to be hermaphrodite or monoecious. Sex runs 
nearly throughout the animal kingdom, even down to the 
Which two great sexes animate the world. 
Milton, P. L.,viii. 151. 
3. Especially, the female sex; womankind, by 
way of emphasis: generally with the definite 
article. 
Twice are the Men instructed by thy Muse, 
Nor must she now to teach the Sex refuse. 
Gangrene, tr. of Ovid's Art of Love. 
Not that he had no cares to vex ; 
He loved the Muses and the sex. 
Byron, Mazeppa, iv. 
4. In bot., the character or structure of plants 
which corresponds to sex in animals, there 
being, except in the lowest orders, a clear dif- 
ferentiation of male and female elements. In 
flowering plants the male organ is the stamen, the female 
the pistil; in cryptogams different designations are used 
according to the class of plants, as antheridium, archegc- 
tiiinii, etc. See malel, a., 2, and n., 2 ; female, n., 2 (6), and 
a., 2 (6); and Linnean system, under Linnean. The fair 
sex, the gentle (or gentler) sex, the softer sex, the 
weaker sex, the female sex collectively ; womankind. 
[Chiefly colloq.] The sterner sex, the male sex collec- 
tively : opposed to the gentle (or gentler) sex. [Chiefly 
colloq. ] 
sex 1 (seks), r. t. [< sex*-, n.'] To ascertain the 
sex of (a specimen of natural history); mark 
or label as male or female. [Colloq.] 
The still more barbarous phrase of " collecting a speci- 
men " and then of "sexing" it. 
A. Newton, Zoologist, 3d ser., XII. 101. 
sex 2 , a. and . An obsolete or dialectal form 
of six. 
sexadecimal (sek-sa-des'i-mal), a. [Prop.**ex- 
denmaJ,(. L. sexdenm, sedecim, sixteen, < sex, = 
E. six, + decem = E. ten.'} Sixteenth; relating 
to sixteen. 
sexagecuple (sek-saj'e-ku-pl), a. [Irreg. and 
barbarous; < L. sexag(inta), sixty, + -c-uple, as 
in decuple.] Proceeding by sixties : as, a sex- 
agefiiple ratio. Pop. Encyc. (Imp. Viet.) 
sexagenal (sek-saj'e-nal), o. [< L. sexageni, 
sixty each (see sexagenary), + -al.~\ Same as 
sexagenary. 
sexagenarian (sek*sa-je-na'ri-an), a. and n. [< 
L. sexagenariiis, belonging to sixty (see sexage- 
nary), + -an.] I. a. Sixty years old; sexage- 
nary. 
II. n. A person sixty years of age, or between 
sixty and seventy. 
sexagenary (sek-saj'e-na-ri), a. and n. [< OF. 
sexagenaire, F. sexagenaire = Sp. Pg. sexagena- 
rio = It. sessagenario, < L. sexagenarius, belong- 
ing to sixty, < sexageni, sixty each, distributive 
of sexaginta, sixty, = E. sixty : see sixty.] I. 
a. Pertaining* to the number sixty ; composed 
of or proceeding by sixties ; specifically, sixty 
years old ; sexagenarian . Also sexagenal. 
I count it strange, and hard to understand, 
That nearly all young poets should write old ; 
That Pope was sexagenary at sixteen, 
And beardless Byron academical. 
Mrs. Browning, Aurora Leigh, i. 
Sexagenary arithmetic. Same as sexagesimal arithme- 
tic (which see, under sexagesimal). Sexagenary cycle. 
See cycle*. Sexagenary table, a table of proportional 
parts for units ana sixtieths. 
II. n.; pi. sexagenaries (-riz). 1. A sexage- 
narian. 
The lad can sometimes be as dowff as a sexagenary like 
myself. Scott, Waverley, xliii. 
2. A thing composed of sixty parts or contain- 
ing sixty. 
sexagene (sek'sa-jen), M. [< L. sexageni, sixty 
each : see sexagenary.] An arc or angle of 60 ; 
a sixth of a circumference. See sexagesimal 
fractions, under sexagesimal. 
